I have just one word for today’s front page editorial: Horse Hockey. Okay, two words. But the word I want to use, while succinct and better describes my reaction, is not polite. Does your editorial board even read the Post? However, the tone of the editorial suggests it was written by the same publisher that dictated the Post endorse the current White House incompetent for president.

The editorial suggests some kind of crises, but in reading the pertinent articles in today’s Post, I find the bargaining partnership does not allow strikes, binding arbitrations, or even compels individual departments to enforce the new executive order. So why all the Chicken Little squawking by the editorial board? This needs front page editorial? Please.

Then another article says this model is already in use by some businesses, including Kaiser, AT&T, and Harley-Davidson. And what do you know? Kaiser likes it! Well, that’s a cause for hysteria.

I don’t belong to a union, but I believe unions and government are the only entities powerful enough to make businesses behave themselves. The average American worker bee certainly has no say in his work processes. So if this allows government workers a voice, more power to them. It’s a model that should be adopted by more businesses and governments. Bravo to Governor Ritter for having the courage to do the right thing. And raspberries to Mr. Singleton for all the unhelpful hyperbole.

Helen Kern, Aurora

As a long time subscriber to your fine paper, I am concerned about the security of your computer system. In case you missed it, some unhinged hacker apparently broke into your server Sunday morning and posted a poorly argued tirade against labor unions — on the front page, no less.

Good luck tracking down the perpetrator.

Seth Masket, Denver

Yesterday’s front page editorial slamming Governor Bill Ritter’s state employee’s pro-worker stance was full of rant and bore little respect for facts. Just read your own front-page article. Ritter’s order is not carte blanche for unions: there’s plenty of room for department heads to ignore it and plenty of room for an override. As I recall, Gov. Ritter did not exactly buckle under union pressure when it came to bringing the Dem Convention to the Pepsi Center in ’08. Sorry, Denver Post – Ritter seems pretty middle-of-the-road to me.

Larry Walsh, Conifer

If you haven’t been paying attention, your wallet is about to be lifted from your pocket by Democrat
politicians who will then turn you upside down to get the last change as well. Issues 1A through 1I are
going to increase the tax burden on Denver residents. Don’t think you don’t pay these just because you don’t own property. All taxes are passed on, even though some take longer than others. Governor Ritter has just by fiat legalized unionization of state workers, which will do nothing but increase the cost of state government. And we won’t even talk about his greening of Colorado initiatives that will raise everyone’s cost of living. And on the national level there’s the prospect of Hillarycare, which will make you long for the good old days of the present health care system on both fiscal and medical grounds. It’s been said, “If you think health care is expensive now, just wait until it’s free.” Excellence will be taxed, sloth and incompetence will be subsidized. What you tax you get less of and what you subsidize you get more of. Elections count.

Jon Danley, Englewood

Ritter rebuke a cheap shot

It was disconcerting to see that the Denver Post has devolved to the hyperbolic, sorely unprofessional level of a blog. Invoking the specter of Jimmy Hoffa in reference to our centrist governor is a gross distortion. The front page article, although said to be an editorial, is inconsistent with the conventional style of preserving the front page for hard, objective news. The editorial board should not be spewing hysterical, poorly written opinion in the traditional context of objectivity and factuality. This type of sensationalism is increasingly typical of old media, as they flail to retain readers with polarized, venomous political writing. As the Denver Post maneuvers in an altered media environment they should not forget bedrock principles of good journalism.

Chris Coddington, Glenwood Springs

I am shocked, appalled, even surprised and puzzled by your front page edictorial attacking Gov. Ritter’s moderate and even overdue executive order of last Friday. Opposition to it, although in error, would be quite acceptable, but assuming such a sneering, sarcastic, contemptuous tone is more outrageous than I have words to describe.

The extreme disparity in income between upper and lower income brackets in America deserves, even demands, immediate correction for the health of the economy as well as for the welfare of workers. About the only correctives I know of are governments and labor unions. Therefore it seems to me that one small step to provide a bit more strength to unions is most welcome.

I look for a prompt return to the usual competent, reasonable, influential demeanor we expect from the Denver Post.

Gladys Foster, Centennial

Apparently name calling and knee jerk negative reactions to the word “Unions” is justified by calling it an effort to encourage dialog. The Sunday editorial on the front page of the Post was the most biased, inflammatory, and unprofessional editorial writing as any I have seen in the Post in the nearly 50 years I have been reading it.

Governor Ritter is allowing state employees to join a union. He does not give them the right or power to strike, he does not give them collective borrowing power, he gives them ONLY a sense that there is a chance their concerns will be heard. The employees get nothing of real power, yet from the uproar of the knee jerk conservative business community you would have thought that the Governor had raised business taxes 50%.

Business leaders should be chuckling, not screaming. Any business owner would be happy to let his or her employees join a union where the union has no power to effect or demand change. State employees will get no more in compensation or benefits because of a union. And the union merely has the power to attempt to create significant membership. There is no requirement than any state employee pay a nickel to a union in dues.

We constantly hear business owners complaining about how poorly state employees do their jobs. Well, if they feel there really is a “partnership” maybe they will work harder. As it is, a state employee pretty much has a life-time job if he or she doesn’t quit. How is that different from a union?

You have my permission to publish the above in its entirety.

Mandell S. Winter, Jr., Denver

I guess the Post editorial board is anti-union. They are certainly allowed to be and to express that opinion. What is over the line is the ad-hominem attacks scattered throughout your editorial published on Sunday 11/4.

No, the Governor is not a “toady” to the labor bosses. Nor is he “pandering” to the alleged union vote, which you note is quite small and which has been steadily getting smaller.

And no, this will not derail the Governor’s agenda nor will it likely change his odds of re-election. The rabid anti-union portion of the electorate – whatever size it might be – wouldn’t vote for him anyway
because of the (D) after his name.

Yes, the Governor has allowed the possibility of collective bargaining for some classes of state employees. God forbid … What he should have done, of course, is outsource as many state jobs as possible to politically connected companies who would then proceed to hire illegals to do as much of the work as they possibly could, at sub-minimum wages.

The Post’s editorial board should know better. You don’t like the idea of the Executive branch taking unilateral actions? Great … say so. Say it should have been done with the agreement of the Legislature. Leave the personal attacks out of it.

Scott Lorditch, Evergreen

Yesterday’s scathing front-page editorail demonizing Governor Ritter has caused my husband and I, both long-time readers of the Post, to cancel our subscription. In all my years of reading this newspaper, I have never seen an editorial on the front page, and your choice of topics for this prominent position is bizarre, to say the least. Ritter has taken a moderate position on unions and your board sees fit to liken him to Jimmy Hoffa? A “toady to labor bosses”? I am a union member and appreciate the work unions have historically done on behalf of the “common man.”

The executive order Ritter signed in no way threatens business; rather, it sets the stage for good-faith conversations between employers and employees of the state of Colorado. This editorial is yet another example of the Post’s rapid downward slide in recent months: no more Cindy Rodriguez, the abrupt departure of Jim Spencer, the loss of Diane Carman. People such as myself are left with no voice on the pages of the newspaper. Instead, we are treated daily to the strident words of Independence Institute fellows, the whining of John Andrews, and the predictable conservative positions of Mark Hillman. I no longer enjoy waking up to the Denver Post, and your pandering editorial was the last straw.

Shari VanderVelde, Grand Junction

Your editorial is outrageously biased against workers, not just those who work for the state, but against all workers of Colorado. Union membership is both a right and an opportunity for fair treatment. Actually, the deal Governor Ritter worked out with the union short-changes state employees because, under the agreement, they don’t have the right to strike and they can’t even avail themselves of binding arbitration.

If there is any valid criticism of Mr. Ritter, it is that, only a few months ago, he vetoed the bill that would have eliminated the requirement for two votes to unionize – a quirk in the law that does not exist in most states and that mitigates against the interests of all workers in Colorado, not just state workers.

Your editorial board’s hissy-fit and name-calling symbolizes the fact that your newspaper can’t make it without business advertising. You owe your existence to the business community and you are the toadies to the business bosses. The public should recognize that, in today’s media, the opinions of editorial boards are not determined by fairness, or even by what’s good for the community, but by who pays the bills.

Walt Heidenfelder, Lakewood

I agree with your editorial about Gov. Ritter’s future. After 5 phones calls and a number of e-mails to Gov. Ritter’s office on a business issue, I hit me that Bill Ritter had a One Term Plan. No one in the private sector – other than airlines – would give this type of customer service and expect a
repeat customer. A shining example of his office lack of constituent service was in an Auto-reply email that I received, it was blank – it took a minute to get the coy message in their communication, they don’t care!

Scott Fasken, Palisade

After reading the hysterical front page editorial about Governor Ritter on Sunday and then reading your story on the “Church gears up…” this morning, I wonder why I bother to read the Post at all. The editorial ( and its placement) was over the top as a reaction and your story read like a “cut and paste” from a freshman English class. It was not news and it did not offer any new insight into an old story.

I guess the web and TV are more cutting edge…too bad, for I have always enjoyed reading a real paper.

I agree to the above requirement to this web site’s ‘Term of Use’…too bad your front page editorial was not required to meet such standards. That’s why people join unions…what’s true for labor cannot be different for management.

I agree to the above requirement to this web site’s ‘Term of Use’…too bad your front page editorial was not required to meet such standards. That’s why people join unions…what’s true for labor cannot be different for management.

Re: Union for State Employees: I don’t get it. Gov. Ritter’s order allows, but does not require, state employees to join a union which cannot strike or engage in binding arbitration, but will encourage employees to be more involved in making govenment more efficient. Why would any state employee want to pay an unstated amount to a union if the main goal is to “build a better relationship” between workers and emloyer? The same result could be obtained by an order encouraging employees to communicate with their supervisors.

Re: Union for State Employees: I don’t get it. Gov. Ritter’s order allows, but does not require, state employees to join a union which cannot strike or engage in binding arbitration, but will encourage employees to be more involved in making govenment more efficient. Why would any state employee want to pay an unstated amount to a union if the main goal is to “build a better relationship” between workers and emloyer? The same result could be obtained by an order encouraging employees to communicate with their supervisors.

Please tell me Dick Wadhams wrote the front page editorial on Gov. Ritter’s Executive Order. If not, find the guy that wrote it and make him get back on his medicine before he does something even more stupid.

Please tell me Dick Wadhams wrote the front page editorial on Gov. Ritter’s Executive Order. If not, find the guy that wrote it and make him get back on his medicine before he does something even more stupid.

After reading the comments here to your house editorial – which I strongly applaud – it’s clear the liberal demoncrats have thier Union sympathizers at full steam ahead. The article Sunday was right on. All the sophistry and nonsense about “partnerships” and “engaging” employees is democrat speak for control by the unions. There is a reason union membership is dwindling everywhere except in the public employee sector. Any employee who had a great idea in the Owens adminstration was free to voice them without a union and any manager worth his/her salt can interact with employees without a union. So Ritter is a big time LIBERAL who supports unions – not a surprise.
There are two major employers in Golden. One is nicknamed the Taj Mahal, the other is a collection of buildings made up of concrete slabs that house the largest single brewery in the world. Guess which one is non union, employs thousands and shows a profit while the other leaks taxpayer dollars and will probably be next on Ritter’s list for partnership agreements and union help to keep those tax dollars coming?
Ritter’s Executive order will cost the State more than it will ever save and stifle innovation. Fess up Governor, you just paid the unions back for your earlier veto.

After reading the comments here to your house editorial – which I strongly applaud – it’s clear the liberal demoncrats have thier Union sympathizers at full steam ahead. The article Sunday was right on. All the sophistry and nonsense about “partnerships” and “engaging” employees is democrat speak for control by the unions. There is a reason union membership is dwindling everywhere except in the public employee sector. Any employee who had a great idea in the Owens adminstration was free to voice them without a union and any manager worth his/her salt can interact with employees without a union. So Ritter is a big time LIBERAL who supports unions – not a surprise.
There are two major employers in Golden. One is nicknamed the Taj Mahal, the other is a collection of buildings made up of concrete slabs that house the largest single brewery in the world. Guess which one is non union, employs thousands and shows a profit while the other leaks taxpayer dollars and will probably be next on Ritter’s list for partnership agreements and union help to keep those tax dollars coming?
Ritter’s Executive order will cost the State more than it will ever save and stifle innovation. Fess up Governor, you just paid the unions back for your earlier veto.

A few days ago, Gov. Bill Ritter issued an executive order allowing some state government managers to directly work with their employees, addressing such things as workplace efficiency, improving assistance to users of government services, improving workers’ performance through better training, and saving the taxpayer’s money by advancing workplace safety. The directive is modeled on progressive 21st century developments in labor-management relations. It is modest in scope and humble in application. It cautiously breaks with the “labor vs. management” war stance that has marked much of the labor relations in this country, going back to and beyond our very own Ludlow Massacre. So Coloradoans were probably stunned Sunday morning when they picked up their coffee and Denver Post. Apparently, Republican Party wedge-nuts broke into the Post’s editorial board room over the weekend. After drinking way too much, they wrote a front page, column 1 “editorial,” which they shaded in gray to make sure we didn’t miss it. They used premier space and vicious words that the Post hasn’t even seen fit to print in its editorial coverage of the wedge-people’s Iraqi War. They denounced Gov. Ritter as a union “toady,” a man who actually “props up” unions. They claimed that the Governor had brought down upon us the Hottest Hell of collective wage and benefit bargaining. The business community must now abandon the Governor and all of his pomp and worldly ways, for he is “rudderless,” with a “doomed” governorship. By now, weeping wildly and smashing bottles against the wall, the writers literally sobbed their finale, Governor Ritter, they wrote “has squandered his future,…And Colorado is the loser.”

No. The Denver Post is the loser. This is an enterprise that permitted some sick people to seize its editorial offices. People who need help. Maybe rehab. Perhaps a management-worker meeting would help..

A few days ago, Gov. Bill Ritter issued an executive order allowing some state government managers to directly work with their employees, addressing such things as workplace efficiency, improving assistance to users of government services, improving workers’ performance through better training, and saving the taxpayer’s money by advancing workplace safety. The directive is modeled on progressive 21st century developments in labor-management relations. It is modest in scope and humble in application. It cautiously breaks with the “labor vs. management” war stance that has marked much of the labor relations in this country, going back to and beyond our very own Ludlow Massacre. So Coloradoans were probably stunned Sunday morning when they picked up their coffee and Denver Post. Apparently, Republican Party wedge-nuts broke into the Post’s editorial board room over the weekend. After drinking way too much, they wrote a front page, column 1 “editorial,” which they shaded in gray to make sure we didn’t miss it. They used premier space and vicious words that the Post hasn’t even seen fit to print in its editorial coverage of the wedge-people’s Iraqi War. They denounced Gov. Ritter as a union “toady,” a man who actually “props up” unions. They claimed that the Governor had brought down upon us the Hottest Hell of collective wage and benefit bargaining. The business community must now abandon the Governor and all of his pomp and worldly ways, for he is “rudderless,” with a “doomed” governorship. By now, weeping wildly and smashing bottles against the wall, the writers literally sobbed their finale, Governor Ritter, they wrote “has squandered his future,…And Colorado is the loser.”

No. The Denver Post is the loser. This is an enterprise that permitted some sick people to seize its editorial offices. People who need help. Maybe rehab. Perhaps a management-worker meeting would help..

We subscribed to the Denver Post because we were under the impression that the post was less “neo con” than the Rocky Mountain News……..were we hoodwinked!!! We will not renew our subscription! This really IS facism!

We subscribed to the Denver Post because we were under the impression that the post was less “neo con” than the Rocky Mountain News……..were we hoodwinked!!! We will not renew our subscription! This really IS facism!

I was dismayed and angered by your editorial, and on the front page no less. What was this tragedy that required a front page editorial to alert Coloradoans to some heinous act or a moral outrage perpetrated upon us by some demagogue trying to destroy the state?

From what I can tell, the Governor told state managers in some departments (not those headed by elected officials) that a Union was a legitimate voice for those employees who chose to join one to discuss state business with mangers – business such as how to make state government a better place to work and to give better service to the citizens of Colorado. Wow! That is certainly heinous!

Employees were not required to join a union, those that do can’t strike, and those that don’t join don’t have to pay dues. What really changed? Not much. Management was told that unions have a right to represent their employees and management has an obligation to listen. And, I admit, this is an important change of perspective. But management is not required to agree with the Unions and if they don’t, mediation is suggested as a method to resolve a disagreement, but in the end, if management disagrees they win – no binding arbitration.

I think the Governor’s action was moderate and respectful of the employees that work for state government. It recognizes that employees are not just cogs in a machine but that they are thinking, feeling, intelligent individuals who when given the chance will do what they can to do a better job and to provide better service.

As a local government worker I believe my first priority is to protect the interests of local government – and to me that means the general public. My second interest is to help individuals, developers, homeowners, and business people, achieve their individual goals as long as they do it within the rules and regulations put in place to protect all of us (by the way, that is what government does – protect the general public). I work everyday to balance those interests. I feel my coworkers do the same.

The Denver Post and the Republican leadership in this state seem to have nothing but hate and disdain for working people, be it immigrants just trying to survive, or be it middle class workers that work for salaries or wages rather than owning their own businesses. What is wrong with you that you have such distaste for your fellow citizens and neighbors who go to work everyday to make this state work? We are not machines and we are not chattel to be expended wastefully. We are citizens, we are people.

We are not robots run by some mythical union machine. When we join unions we do so to have a collective voice and we elect people to speak out for us (it is also called democracy).

Maybe you need to come out of your gilded cages and mix with some of the other humans that share your planet instead of living in your fairy tale land where there are real people (business owners and newspaper editors) and there is the live stock – the rest of us poor drudges who unthinkingly go to work each day just to serve your greedy needs.

Is that harsh and overstated? Yes, but so was your grand standing editorial. It was just plain out of line for a credible newspaper.

I was dismayed and angered by your editorial, and on the front page no less. What was this tragedy that required a front page editorial to alert Coloradoans to some heinous act or a moral outrage perpetrated upon us by some demagogue trying to destroy the state?

From what I can tell, the Governor told state managers in some departments (not those headed by elected officials) that a Union was a legitimate voice for those employees who chose to join one to discuss state business with mangers – business such as how to make state government a better place to work and to give better service to the citizens of Colorado. Wow! That is certainly heinous!

Employees were not required to join a union, those that do can’t strike, and those that don’t join don’t have to pay dues. What really changed? Not much. Management was told that unions have a right to represent their employees and management has an obligation to listen. And, I admit, this is an important change of perspective. But management is not required to agree with the Unions and if they don’t, mediation is suggested as a method to resolve a disagreement, but in the end, if management disagrees they win – no binding arbitration.

I think the Governor’s action was moderate and respectful of the employees that work for state government. It recognizes that employees are not just cogs in a machine but that they are thinking, feeling, intelligent individuals who when given the chance will do what they can to do a better job and to provide better service.

As a local government worker I believe my first priority is to protect the interests of local government – and to me that means the general public. My second interest is to help individuals, developers, homeowners, and business people, achieve their individual goals as long as they do it within the rules and regulations put in place to protect all of us (by the way, that is what government does – protect the general public). I work everyday to balance those interests. I feel my coworkers do the same.

The Denver Post and the Republican leadership in this state seem to have nothing but hate and disdain for working people, be it immigrants just trying to survive, or be it middle class workers that work for salaries or wages rather than owning their own businesses. What is wrong with you that you have such distaste for your fellow citizens and neighbors who go to work everyday to make this state work? We are not machines and we are not chattel to be expended wastefully. We are citizens, we are people.

We are not robots run by some mythical union machine. When we join unions we do so to have a collective voice and we elect people to speak out for us (it is also called democracy).

Maybe you need to come out of your gilded cages and mix with some of the other humans that share your planet instead of living in your fairy tale land where there are real people (business owners and newspaper editors) and there is the live stock – the rest of us poor drudges who unthinkingly go to work each day just to serve your greedy needs.

Is that harsh and overstated? Yes, but so was your grand standing editorial. It was just plain out of line for a credible newspaper.

I am writing in response to the insulting anti-union tone of the Denver Post Editorial Board article entitled “A Colorado Promise Broken” that ran on 11-4-07. First of all, the article seems to mock those hard-working Coloradans who are already part of the Labor Movement without realizing that a majority of Americans have actually indicated that they would love to be in a Union if they had a chance. Polling in early 2007 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates shows that 53% of nonunion employees in the U.S.A. would favor joining a union at their workplace if given a fair chance. But they are NOT given a fair chance by the very same hysterical business interests that the Post seems to support. For example: when employees first try to organize, 80% of employers hire high-priced anti-union consultants. 91% force their workers to attend mandatory closed-door meetings on paid time to hear anti-union presentations. A quarter of union activists are likely to be fired on union campaigns, according to a recent study, and the government found that companies violated workers’ rights 20,000 times last year alone! Furthermore, the average CEO in the U.S. makes 500 times what the average worker makes and 1% of our population owns almost half this country’s wealth. I’d say big business is doing just fine and that, if anything, the Governor’s Order barely begins to balance out the playing field. In terms of the Denver Post article itself, in all of the apocalyptic ranting, it seems to be overlooked that State Employees in Colorado will still have fewer rights than workers in the private sector regardless of the Governor’s Executive Order. If more employers followed the Governor in allowing such mild, democratic employee input into workflow and working conditions, perhaps half the American people wouldn’t be so interested in unions!

I am writing in response to the insulting anti-union tone of the Denver Post Editorial Board article entitled “A Colorado Promise Broken” that ran on 11-4-07. First of all, the article seems to mock those hard-working Coloradans who are already part of the Labor Movement without realizing that a majority of Americans have actually indicated that they would love to be in a Union if they had a chance. Polling in early 2007 by Peter D. Hart Research Associates shows that 53% of nonunion employees in the U.S.A. would favor joining a union at their workplace if given a fair chance. But they are NOT given a fair chance by the very same hysterical business interests that the Post seems to support. For example: when employees first try to organize, 80% of employers hire high-priced anti-union consultants. 91% force their workers to attend mandatory closed-door meetings on paid time to hear anti-union presentations. A quarter of union activists are likely to be fired on union campaigns, according to a recent study, and the government found that companies violated workers’ rights 20,000 times last year alone! Furthermore, the average CEO in the U.S. makes 500 times what the average worker makes and 1% of our population owns almost half this country’s wealth. I’d say big business is doing just fine and that, if anything, the Governor’s Order barely begins to balance out the playing field. In terms of the Denver Post article itself, in all of the apocalyptic ranting, it seems to be overlooked that State Employees in Colorado will still have fewer rights than workers in the private sector regardless of the Governor’s Executive Order. If more employers followed the Governor in allowing such mild, democratic employee input into workflow and working conditions, perhaps half the American people wouldn’t be so interested in unions!

Have any of you heard the comment of the camel’s nose under the tent? Or give an inch, and he will take a mile. If this executive order stands, how long will it be until the same legislators who tried the fast shuffle in January, introduce the “strike option”, “binding arbritration” or “forced union”? I experienced United Mine Workers strike policies in 1948 when John L. Lewis got miners a dollar a day raise (my pay as electrician increased from $13.05 to $14.05 for 8 hour day). But with 4 man crew for my section, one of my workers was removed so 3 of us had to do the work that 4 had been doing. And price of coal went from $4.00 a ton to $7.00 a ton, since miners got such a big raise. With only 44 inch seam of coal with soft top, mine was abandoned as unsafe. I then worked for A&P, working 9 hour days 6 days a week for $38.00 a week. Forced to belong to Foodhandlers union, that collected a monthly fee but we were never told where union offie was, when or where meetings were held, and never met a union official. One senior clerk designated to collect, and mail in the dues each month. In 1950, I enlisted in Air Force same day my draft notice arrived at my home. Found recognition, training, promotions, and responsibility in the military. Had intended to serve shortest possible time, enlistment was 4 years, and go home to Ohio. Changed my mind, stayed in service until 1 Nov 76 – retired Honorably with 26 years 18 days service. Then worked at Samsonite in Denver as Journeyman Electrician. Forced to join Rubber Workers of America who established my pay rate as $8.00 per hour, while Journeymen Electricians in Denver were getting $25.00 per hour, and more if they supervised others. So I joined 3 unions during my civilian work and none of them were interested in MY needs. Only in sweetheart deals with Employers.
Colorado has done well for its working people in past years so why change through executive order. Can only be because Unions poured so much money into the campaigns for these individuals. Why set up another layer of bureacracy between the worker and management? One final question: Why does Daniel Klawitter feel need to add the Rev. in front of his name. This is a political issue effecting work, pay, and families. Are we supposed to give his post more weight, thinking he received a directive to weigh in from God, or did he have to join a union in his religion too?

Have any of you heard the comment of the camel’s nose under the tent? Or give an inch, and he will take a mile. If this executive order stands, how long will it be until the same legislators who tried the fast shuffle in January, introduce the “strike option”, “binding arbritration” or “forced union”? I experienced United Mine Workers strike policies in 1948 when John L. Lewis got miners a dollar a day raise (my pay as electrician increased from $13.05 to $14.05 for 8 hour day). But with 4 man crew for my section, one of my workers was removed so 3 of us had to do the work that 4 had been doing. And price of coal went from $4.00 a ton to $7.00 a ton, since miners got such a big raise. With only 44 inch seam of coal with soft top, mine was abandoned as unsafe. I then worked for A&P, working 9 hour days 6 days a week for $38.00 a week. Forced to belong to Foodhandlers union, that collected a monthly fee but we were never told where union offie was, when or where meetings were held, and never met a union official. One senior clerk designated to collect, and mail in the dues each month. In 1950, I enlisted in Air Force same day my draft notice arrived at my home. Found recognition, training, promotions, and responsibility in the military. Had intended to serve shortest possible time, enlistment was 4 years, and go home to Ohio. Changed my mind, stayed in service until 1 Nov 76 – retired Honorably with 26 years 18 days service. Then worked at Samsonite in Denver as Journeyman Electrician. Forced to join Rubber Workers of America who established my pay rate as $8.00 per hour, while Journeymen Electricians in Denver were getting $25.00 per hour, and more if they supervised others. So I joined 3 unions during my civilian work and none of them were interested in MY needs. Only in sweetheart deals with Employers.
Colorado has done well for its working people in past years so why change through executive order. Can only be because Unions poured so much money into the campaigns for these individuals. Why set up another layer of bureacracy between the worker and management? One final question: Why does Daniel Klawitter feel need to add the Rev. in front of his name. This is a political issue effecting work, pay, and families. Are we supposed to give his post more weight, thinking he received a directive to weigh in from God, or did he have to join a union in his religion too?

So Governor Ritter allows state workers to join a union that has no power to strike, and can negotiate wages only within the parameters of the legislature’s funding, and it is *other people’s* employers who are riled up?

Isn’t that a bit like me going ballistic because my local McDonald’s allows their employees to set the bathroom cleaning schedule amoungst themselves?

So Governor Ritter allows state workers to join a union that has no power to strike, and can negotiate wages only within the parameters of the legislature’s funding, and it is *other people’s* employers who are riled up?

Isn’t that a bit like me going ballistic because my local McDonald’s allows their employees to set the bathroom cleaning schedule amoungst themselves?

Vincent Carroll is The Denver Post's editorial page editor. He has been writing commentary on politics and public policy in Colorado since 1982 and was originally with the Rocky Mountain News, where he was also editor of the editorial pages until that newspaper gave up the ghost in 2009.

Guidelines: The Post welcomes letters up to 150 words on topics of general interest. Letters must include full name, home address, day and evening phone numbers, and may be edited for length, grammar and accuracy.

To reach the Denver Post editorial page by phone: 303-954-1331

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